The man behind the voice of TCW’s Palpatine passed away on Thursday. Ian Abercrombie had a long and varied career, and counted among his credits such films as Young Frankenstein and The Lost World: Jurassic Park. He also had roles in numerous television shows as well as voicing Palpatine/Sidious for Clone Wars video games. He was 77 at the time of his death.

Today is a very sad day for Star Wars fans, as we lost a dear friend in Ian Abercrombie. You know him better as the voice of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine on The Clone Wars. I cannot express how thankful I am to have had the opportunity to work with Ian. He was extremely passionate about his role on the series and he was brilliant at it. I always called him “Chancellor” no matter where we were, in the studio or out at a restaurant. I think he enjoyed that a great deal. I learned so much from him about directing actors, and working with dialog. His advice and mentoring will be sorely missed by all of us. Though he played a villain on our show, you would be hard pressed to meet a kinder person. He loved to laugh and his sense of humor always lightened our record sessions. I will miss his stories, I will miss his performances, and I will miss his contribution to our show.

My friend, the Force will be with you, always, and you will never be forgotten.

Posted by Synlah for Roqoo Depot

You’ve seen the Facebook photos. You’ve seen the art. You can now read the blurb. The Essential Guide to Warfare synopsis has been posted on the official Random House site:

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE ULTIMATE INTERGALACTIC BATTLEFIELD

Like many a great epic, Star Wars is rooted in a rich history of armed conflict. Now, for the first time, the facts, figures, and fascinating backstories of major clashes and combatants in the vast Star Wars universe have been documented in one fully illustrated volume. Extensively researched and inventively written, Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare combines action-filled narrative with encyclopedic knowledge that:

Encompassing all of the Star Wars media, including the legendary films, the hit TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the bestselling books, comics, and videogames, and packed with original full-color artwork, Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare is a conquering achievement.

An audio excerpt for the highly anticipated Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse has been posted on the official Random House site. The audio excerpt features Wynn Dorvan and Abeloth in a positively creepy scene. If you missed any previous Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse mini-excerpts, you read the first and second excerpts here. Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse goes on sale March 12, 2012 in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook formats.

Posted by: Dancelittleewok for Roqoo Depot. You heard it here first.

Today we wish a happy birthday to author Matthew Stover! Mr. Stover is the author of some of the greatest Star Wars novels out there…Traitor, Revenge of the Sith, and Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. He’s also the author of the wildly entertaining Acts of Caine series.

Stover is a Duke University graduate, a martial artist student of the Degerberg Blend, and the author of a dozen books, five of them Star Wars. His latest novel in the Acts of Caine series will be out on April 3rd. Caine’s Law (previously titled His Father’s Fist) will be the fourth book in the series. It’s also just one cog in the giant media machine Mr. Stover has been rolling out for the series. The novels take place in a dimension called Overworld, a place where actors from our planet provide go to actually live out real life fantasy adventures. Overworld is a place where elves and orcs really exist, and where magic still resides. To bring the series to life, Mr. Stover and a team of hard working, talented individuals have created the site Overworld.tv with plans for breaking Caine into comics. Continue Reading Happy Birthday, Matthew Stover…